


All the Waters of This World

by loosingletters



Series: The Second Emperor [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Dimension Travel, Emperor Luke Skywalker, Father-Son Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24881935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: In which Vader made his ten-year-old son Emperor and chaos reigns.Side-stories toevery planet, every star, every single grain of sand
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker
Series: The Second Emperor [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800451
Comments: 37
Kudos: 617





	1. Vader vs (pre-)teens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: Vader realizing how much trouble Luke and his team of inquisitors in training can cause and him more or less having to act like a very angry den mother about all of them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is in this side story collection bc i haven't even started introducing the Inquisitor story line in the main fanfic.  
> Takes place when Luke is 13.

Mara thought it was a testament to Vader’s anger that he wasn’t waiting for them to recover, but was lecturing them while all of them were still stuck in the infirmary.

“What were you thinking?” He roared, or would possibly roar if Brakiss weren’t sleeping on Shira. Instead, Vader just hissed, his black cape flaring rather dramatically while the five-year-old slept on.

Still, it looked intimidating. It was cool.

Vader was the scariest person Mara knew. He was tall, terrifying really, the monster of every battlefield, the nightmare of not only the rebels but many Imperial officers as well. Mara knew this better than most, she had been raised with the explicit expectation to be as skilled and dangerous as he someday. She’d been forced to witness Vader’s acts, fear latching onto her every thought, forcing her to acknowledge that she would become just like him, something to be scared and terrified of.

Except, Mara wasn’t really scared of Vader anymore. Or, at least, not as fearful as she used to be. She didn’t want to disappoint him, or be at the receiving end of his anger, but she’d learned to accept that he would not punish her as her teachers used to.

Caring wasn’t a weakness. Compassion wasn’t a weakness. Love wasn’t a weakness. Her own identity wasn’t a weakness.

Her name was Mara Jade and no matter what she did, Vader would not take her name away for any of her many flaws.

“I was thinking that we had an information leak,” Luke explained calmly, though his outward expression was a farce.

Just hours ago he had been downright vibrating with energy and happiness, eager to show off what they had discovered.

But that was also before he’d broken his leg dragging Aralina out of an air vent and they had to call Vader to come pick them up in Coruscant’s underbelly. They were lucky nobody had caught them, sitting behind a dumpster, drenched in slimy oil and waiting for their transport back home. Eirtaé had said something about hands in cookie jars – the expression had been lost on Mara, but their Teacher had laughed, even when Vader had glared, so Mara supposed it must mean something good. Compared to the other two adults, Eirtaé had only looked resigned and a little amused. Eirtaé was the one who supported their outings the most. She said she used to do the same with Luke’s mother. She didn’t say so near Vader because he always threatened to tighten the security meant to keep them in the Imperial palace even more.

“-and so we tracked it down,” Luke finished his explanation.

Vader was visibly unimpressed with Luke’s words.

“On your own, without any guards.”

On the bed behind Vader, Roganda was trying their best not to laugh. The last couple times they had been caught by anyone, Vader had still lectured them about letting someone else do the work. Him not directly telling them off was a vast improvement.

“You were busy.” Luke shrugged, then stuck up his nose in his best impression of the haughty spoiled child emperor the news always enjoyed making fun of. “And we had a plan.”

“Oh, yes, four _children_ with blasters and no infiltration training breaking into a highly guarded research facility. I can see how well this plan worked.”

Vader crossed his arms and if Mara could see his face, she’d bet he was rolling his eyes.

“Five ‘sabers,” Luke muttered, so silently Mara wasn’t sure Vader would even pick up on it.

“What?”

“We also had _five_ lightsabers, Father.”

Vader’s suit hid many of his reactions, or so Luke claimed. They could already sense more than somebody who was not Force-sensitive, but not as much as Luke, who had made himself comfortably at home in Vader’s mind whenever his father let him. Watching Luke’s reaction was often an easier way to figure out Vader’s mood than to look at the man himself.

Luke wasn’t smiling, not exactly, but he was amused. Everything was alright then.

“And what were you _four_ doing with _five_? None of you can use Jar’Kai well enough to warrant carrying two lightsabers.”

“Teacher said I could,” Aralina spoke up. “And the more ‘sabers the better, right?”

“That’s what she said, was it?” Vader said and, no, he wasn’t talking to them anymore.

He was focused on something else, their studies probably-

Mara looked at Luke, who winked back at her. Mission accomplished then. She’d feel bad for Teacher, but she was too happy that they hadn’t been grounded.

“You’re not leaving the palace for a month, unless I give you permission.”

Damn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of these characters are my OCs! They're all from legends/canon/idk and idc.  
> Brakiss is the youngest and five to Shira’s 8. Roganda is 16, Mara 11 and Aralina 13.  
> Yes, Luke basically has a girl squad but you know, it's kinda neat that all the Inquisitors/Hands that are the right age to fit his circle of friends are girls. I've been thinking of throwing Galen Marek in there as well, but his appearance would throw off my Vader character development ngl.  
> Thank you!


	2. Luke Switched (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His Imperial Highness, Luke Amidala, second Emperor of the Galactic Empire, meets Darth Vader, Sith Lord. Commander Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, meets Anakin Skywalker, Force user.
> 
> Tiny Emperor Luke AU meets Canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just thought it would be really funny if the Lukes switched places. Amidala would be so horrified to see what state canon is in while canon Luke would cry because he gets to actually meet his father.  
> Takes place in the future of the tiny emperor AU and pre-ROTJ fro canon.

By the time Luke was coherent enough to see who he was aiming his lightsaber at, everybody else in the room had already drawn their weapons. His vision was swimming and he felt vaguely like throwing up. Just moments ago he had been attending a meeting, hadn’t he? No, wait. That had been hours ago. He had ditched his friends and guards to go exploring with Leia. The temple on Yavin IV had been calling out to them, Luke remembered that clearly. He had been distracted from the negotiations all day because the Force had been shouting at him so loudly, he had been unable to ignore it. Leia and he had been joking, laughing about something- someone- it was hard to sort his thoughts.

“Skywalker?” Somebody asked.

They didn’t sound hostile, didn’t even feel like it. His opponents were wary and confused, dangerous perhaps but they posed no immediate threat. They couldn’t be kidnappers then. All those that had attempted to kidnap, kill or ransom him, had been far more aggressive – and they hadn’t let him keep his lightsaber.

Luke frowned and slowly opened his eyes again. His vision was clearer now and he found himself staring into a room of familiar faces. Not so familiar that they should be addressing him by his family name, but he knew them.

“Senator Mothma,” Luke greeted the woman in front of him. “To what do I own this pleasure?”

The atmosphere shifted again, towards the darkness this time. They were moving from confusion to suspicion and alarm now. Luke wanted to curse. He felt like he had gone a couple rounds in the ring with his friends.

“I’d like to know that from you, Skywalker. You disappeared and now…”

She was studying him with a carefully blank expression. Glancing at the other members in the room, Luke wondered whether he should risk powering down his ‘saber. They didn’t look like they would attack him, and he knew these people, which didn’t explain their behavior at all. Maybe this was a vision? If only he could recall what had happened. He needed bacta, tea and sleep, but this wouldn’t be the first time security came before comfort and it wouldn’t be the last.

Temple on Yavin IV, Luke recalled. Exploring with Leia, making it to the core, touching the stone-

“You said I disappeared, Senator?” Luke repeated.

Mothma nodded.

He hadn’t disappeared from the temple. If anything, he had appeared here.

“What’s going on here?” A familiar voice called out. “Is that- Luke!”

Luke wanted to sigh in relief. The people around him parted and he turned off his ‘saber as he felt Leia approach. She pushed through the group until she stood in front of him.

“Luke are-“ Leia froze at the same time he did.

She didn’t look like his sister. She felt like it, but she didn’t look like her, not exactly. She was thinner, more exhausted than the sibling he had seen just moments, hours, maybe even just minutes ago. He tried to reach for his bond with her, but he only felt emptiness. The blazing storm was standing right in front of him, but he couldn’t connect to her. It was as if he was staring at a corpse.

“Who are you?” Luke heard himself ask. “You’re not- where is my sister?”

“You’re not Luke,” not-Leia said, her voice suddenly as cold as ice. “Who are _you_?”

“I think I’d prefer knowing who you are first, given that you are the aggressors here.”

“Aggressors?” Not-Leia echoed. Her intonation was the same as his sister’s, her expression was the exact same as well. He knew what it felt like to stand right next to her, you couldn’t fake that, not even Clones felt so similar, yet here he was experiencing this discrepancy.

“You are the one who showed up right in our meeting,” Mothma spoke up again. “Taking the place of Commander Skywalker.”

Commander Skywalker-

Nothing was making sense anymore. It was almost as if he had appeared in another world.

His heart skipped a beat.

“I’m not,” Luke said. “I’m not your Luke Skywalker. My name is Luke-“ He hesitated for a minute. He was Luke Skywalker, but he didn’t want these strangers calling him by it. Which name should he go with?

He glanced at Leia again. She wasn’t carrying her ‘saber, but maybe she just didn’t have it on her right now. Obi-Wan would throw a fit, but maybe this was how this world did it. She was strong in the Force either way.

“-Amidala,” he finally finished. “I’m Luke Amidala and I believe this is not my universe.”

There was simply no other explanation for this madness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
